Do you have a family adventure to Six Flags planned for this summer? local dad, Chad Bredderman visited Six Flags Over Georgia with his family and shared the highlights with us (complimentary tickets were provided)!
Six Flags Over Georgia is a traditional regional theme park with thrill rides, coasters, water rides, games, and more. If you haven’t been to Six Flags Over Georgia lately (or ever) you won’t want to miss this review! His review focuses on park features for families with young school-age children.
Recently my wife, six-year-old son, and I had the opportunity to visit Six Flags Over Georgia. We were provided admission and parking vouchers for the purpose of writing this review.
Getting to Six Flags Over Georiga
The first thing to remember, fellow locals, is that the park is just west of Atlanta. If you want to be there when the park opens, which was 10:30 am on the day we went, you will need to plan on, roughly, a three-hour drive. We followed the directions from the Six Flags site; and they recommend taking 85S to 285W, then 20W, which takes you right to the park.
My phone’s navigation system recommended staying on 85 and going into Atlanta as it said that was a faster route. There were two accidents on 285, so perhaps my phone was right. That being said, we were more interested in testing the Six Flags directions, and they were super easy to follow and brought us easily to the park.
Entering Six Flag Over Georgia
Parking was a breeze! They have banners on many light posts in the parking lot with a number and a cartoon/comic character so it is very easy to remember where you park. If you’re a forgetful type, snap a photo with your phone of your nearest sign, so you can remind yourself later!
There are also three tram pick-up locations in the parking lots that will shuttle you to the front entrance. We walked and were to the entrance before people that we saw waiting for the tram.
Now it’s time for what is likely going to be my best recommendation/tip you’ll find. Lines were LONG to get in the park, at 11 am. However, all the way to the left of the entrance lines we saw a separate entrance area with NOBODY in line.
Coming from the parking lot, you’ll actually see this entrance area first, and it is only for people with a Discover card. All you have to do is show them your Discover card and give them your tickets and you get an express entrance!
Gotham City
Once in the park, we quickly got a map, and Caleb decided we should head to the Gotham City section right away. The majority of the park is all connected to each other part, but it seems that Gotham is not, so this seemed like a good strategy to get in and out of this area and then hit the rest of the park. There were plenty of rides and lots of carnival-style games (for an additional cost) as well as shops and food vendors. We rode some rides here and then decided to get some drinks.
The Food at Six Flags Over Georgia
This was where we encountered our biggest difficulty. Six Flags has two special drink mugs for purchase, one that provides free refills for the season, and another that will offer free refills for the day, with the cost being based on how many are being purchased. We waited in line at four separate locations before finally being able to purchase a single-day mug as everywhere else was sold out. This process took us close to an hour, and we spoke with some other people that had been looking for more than one hour.
Once we got our drinks, we decided that it was close enough to lunchtime so we set off in search of food. We enjoyed a good lunch; pulled pork bbq for my son, chicken strips for Mrs. Chad, and a foot-long hot dog for me. All came with fries, and with our special mugs, free refills on the drinks! The meals were all quite good, however, I did not get the chili and cheese on my hot dog, as gut full of chili and roller coasters aren’t always the best of friends.
Rides at Six Flags Over Georgia
We then took the Six Flags steam train to another part of the park and continued our quest for fun! My son, who has ridden small and medium-sized roller coasters before, and is tall enough to ride most of them at Six Flags, was a bit intimidated by the size of the coasters. Therefore we choose to stick with the smallest of the roller coasters, the Dahlonega Mine Train.
We rode in the front car, and really enjoyed it! This coaster is perfect for younger kids who are not quite ready to try the big ones, and has a height requirement of 42 inches. Our wait was a little less than 30 minutes.
We met back up with mom, who had been exploring while we waited, saw some costumed characters walking about, and went to the Monster Mansion. This dark boat ride was a nice break out of the heat, and a fun animatronics break from the heat of the day. As we headed towards the water park (which is included in your ticket admission) we went on the bumper cars, and had a blast! They move pretty quickly and you get a pretty long time to drive.
More Six Flags Parks Ride Favorites
Popular rides you might want to check out on your trip:
Water Park at Six Flags Over Georgia
At Hurricane Harbor, the water park found inside Six Flags Over Georgia, we rented a large locker. There are small, large, and jumbo, with the bigger the locker, the higher the cost. Then we headed for the wave pool to cool off. There are plenty of life jackets for kids that may need them and they have multiple sizes. My son had a great time in the wave pool, but the large Paradise Island structure was calling his name, and we went there to watch him play.
Now, anyone that has lived around this area for a while knows that the weather is VERY unpredictable in the early evening hours. And while the entire day had been virtually cloudless to this point, all of a sudden a thunderstorm came through. The water park was immediately shut down, so we changed back into our regular clothes.
Unfortunately, in the time, we were changing a severe storm warning was issued, and ALL of the rides in the park were turned off. We quickly left the water park area and stopped in a t-shirt shop for about 15 minutes. When the weather broke, we took off again, and got ice cream while the rain started again.
Ultimately it was getting rather on into the evening, with no indication that rides would start up again anytime soon. From the time they shut down the water park at 5 pm, and we got back to our car at 6:30 pm, no rides were running. It was a nice cool down, though.
Six Flags Over Georgia’s rain policy according to their website is: “There are still a ton of activities that are amazingly fun in any kind of weather––including indoor shows, restaurants, shops, games, and arcades. If rain, wind, or electrical storms force us to close certain rides for your safety, they will re-open as soon as safe operations can be assured. Refunds or rain checks for inclement weather are not offered.”
So, our day was cut somewhat short. We had a great time prior to the storm, and my son said he really liked Six Flags a lot. I think we will probably wait until he’s a bit older to go again, however, as the biggest attractions at Six Flags Over Georgia are the roller coasters. There are a LOT of them.
Six Flags Over Georgia Roller Coasters
They have traditional seated coasters, feet-free coasters, one where you stand up the whole time, and one where you are held so that it is like you are laying down and flying face-first like Superman! At 6, my son was a bit apprehensive of riding on these, but said he would like to “in a couple of years.” They have a small area for kids 6 and under, but he was in that perfect age where he was too adventurous for that, but not enough for the big rides.
Parent Tips: Six Flags Over Georgia
This was our first trip ever to Six Flags Over Georgia, and I think it really showed in our preparation. I would very much recommend downloading a park map before your trip, and planning out exactly what you want to do. The staff was very helpful and gave us great directions, and we did enjoy ourselves.
The park was quite a bit bigger than I was expecting, and even with a map, we sometimes got a little lost. I think this park is best for kids that are closer to 10 and older, unless they are both very adventurous AND tall enough to ride the roller coasters, 42 inches for the smaller rides, 48 for medium coasters, and 54 for the biggest. The next time, we’ll have a better idea of where we’re going, and what we want to see and ride.
Visit Six Flag Over Georgia
275 Riverside Parkway SW, Austell, GA
770.739.3400
www.sixflags.com/overgeorgia
See Six Flags website for days and hours of operation.
Has your family ever visited Six Flags Over Georgia?
